This invention relates to a dry shaving apparatus.
A dry shaving apparatus of the type initially referred to is known from printed specification EP 0 161 508 B1. A shaving foil acting as a cutter element is attached to the removable frame in arched form. The removable frame with the shaving foil is arranged between two end cheeks of a housing part and detachably held by a detent mechanism provided in the end walls. The housing part holding the removable frame may be constructed as a component part of the housing of the dry shaving apparatus or it may be a separate housing part adapted to be coupled to and decoupled from the housing of the dry shaving apparatus.
From EP 0 673 728 B1 a dry shaving apparatus with a housing part provided on the housing is known. Demountably held between the end walls of the housing part by two detent mechanisms is a removable frame equipped with two cutter elements in order to ensure both the replacement of a defective removable frame and the cleaning of the complete shaving head, in particular the hair dust collecting chamber formed by the inner walls of the removable frame and the walls of the housing part enclosed by the removable frame, including the cleaning of the cutter elements provided by means of suitable cleaning brushes.
In this known dry shaving apparatus it is necessary for the shaving head of the dry shaving apparatus to be disassembled into several parts. When these parts which include, for example, the removable frame, the undercutter, the coupling element and the housing part of the shaving head are placed down in a bathroom sink, scattered soiling by hair dust occurs. When the user turns the dry shaving apparatus on with the removable frame demounted but the undercutter engaged, dislodged hair dust will be distributed over a major area of the sink.
It is an object of the present invention to effect cleaning of the shaving head, meaning the hair dust collecting chamber formed by the housing part and the removable frame and also the cutter elements provided, in particular the cutter elements utilized as undercutters, in simple manner and with minimum effort.
According to the present invention a dry shaving apparatus of the invention affords plural advantages, including for example, that actuation of the actuating device initially disengages the removable frame from the housing part for the frame to be subsequently movably held in a holding position by a retaining device, in which position at least one distance is maintained between at least one wall of the removable frame and at least one wall of the housing part, so that both the movability of the removable frame and the falling out of hair dust from the hair dust collecting chamber are ensured by this distance. To be able to perform at any time, such as daily, a basic cleaning operation of the shaving head which involves the removal of hair dust clinging to the walls of the housing part, the walls of the removable frame and the cutter elements from the hair dust collecting chamber without having to detach the removable frame from the housing part, the invention provides for setting the removable frame in motion by operation of the electric drive mechanism when the removable frame is held in the holding position by the retaining device, so that it is through this movement of the removable frame and the drive elements setting the removable frame in motion that the hair dust clinging to the walls of the removable frame, the cutter elements and the walls of the housing part is dislodged or dislodged to the maximum possible extent for it to fall out of the distances formed, whereby the removal of hair dust from the hair dust collecting chamber is optimized.
Accordingly, the present invention ensures a basic cleaning of the shaving head without the need to take the shaving head apart as by detaching the removable frame and decoupling existing undercutters from drive elements, for subsequent cleaning of these parts manually using a brush or the like. The hair dust which, according to the invention, falls out of the hair dust collecting chamber through the distance produced between the removable frame and a wall of the housing part, concentrates on a small area, for example, in a sink, to be disposed of by means of water, whilst heretofore several places or areas of a sink have been subject to soiling by the placing down and cleaning of component parts with adhering hair dust.
In a further aspect of this embodiment of the invention, provision is made for the removable frame to be detachably held by the retaining device. This arrangement initially ensures the exchange or replacement of removable frames which have become defective in the course of use, in addition to enabling the heretofore usual cleaning operation of the hair dust collecting chamber to be accomplished, including the cleaning of existing cutter elements of the shaving head to the extent this should become necessary for any reasons.
In one embodiment of the invention, in the holding position of the removable frame provision is made for a distance between a wall of the housing central portion and a wall of at least one bar of the removable frame. A further embodiment is characterized in that in the holding position of the removable frame provision is made for a distance between an end wall of the removable frame and an end wall of the housing part. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the distance is producible by shaping adjacent walls of the housing part and of the removable frame differently. According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the distance is producible by constructing at least one wall of the housing part in wedge shape to ensure detachment of the removable frame from the housing part. In another embodiment of the invention, the distance is producible by constructing at least one wall of the housing part and an adjacent wall of the removable frame in wedge shape to ensure detachment of the removable frame from the housing part. In a further aspect of this embodiment, at least one end wall of the housing part is of a wedge-shaped configuration. In a further aspect of the last mentioned embodiment, at least one end wall of the removable frame is of a wedge-shaped configuration. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one end wall of the removable frame and at least one end wall of the housing part are of a wedge-shaped configuration. It is an essential advantage of previously mentioned constructions of adjacent walls of the housing part and the removable frame that the distance required both for moving the removable frame in the holding position maintained by the retaining device and for the falling out of hair dust from the hair dust collecting chamber is producible simply and economically merely by suitably adapting the respective wall shapes of the housing part and the removable frame.
To dislodge the hair dust from the walls defining the hair dust collecting chamber and also from the cutter elements rapidly and efficiently, one embodiment of the invention provides for the electric drive mechanism to be adapted to be coupled via a coupling element to at least one cutter element and also, by means of cooperating retaining elements of the retaining device, to the removable frame. In this way it is ensured that operation of the electric drive mechanism transmits the driving motion to the removable frame, causing it to oscillate for dislodging the hair dust.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the removable frame held by the retaining device is adapted to be set in motion by a drivable cutter element.
To enhance the cleaning effect, one embodiment of the invention makes provision for a stop on at least one end wall of the removable frame, said stop being acted upon in pulse fashion by a drivable cutter element. By means of this stop the movements of the cutter element are transmitted to the removable frame in a directionalized, pulse-type fashion.
In a further embodiment of the invention a stop is provided on at least one outer surface of the removable frame, said stop acting upon an end wall of the housing part in pulse fashion. With this arrangement the pulse-type impact of a cutter element on the removable frame is transmitted to the housing part, thereby enhancing the dislodging of hair dust from the walls of the housing part in advantageous manner.
In another embodiment of the invention provision is made for the retaining device to be formed of at least two retaining elements adapted to be coupled to each other. In a further aspect of this embodiment, one of the retaining elements is provided on a coupling element, and a further retaining element on a drivable cutter element. In a further aspect of this last-mentioned embodiment, the retaining element is provided on a coupling element of a movable cutter element. Preferably, this retaining element is of a fork-shaped shaped configuration. In another aspect of this embodiment of the invention, the fork arms of the retaining element are resilient. Preferably, in the area of the opening of the fork arms provision is made for retaining beads reducing the width of the fork opening. One significant advantage of such a construction of cooperating retaining elements resides first in the simplicity of construction, considering that the retaining elements are formed on anyway necessary components of the dry shaving apparatus. The area between the resilient fork arms ensures the movement of the removable frame necessary for cleaning the shaving head and, in addition, the formation of a distance between removable frame and housing part.
A substantial advantage of the invention resides in that the movement of the removable frame, which is necessary to perform the cleaning function, is effected by a cutter element which, with the removable frame and the housing part in locked condition, is required to perform another function, namely the cutting of hairs. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cutter element is constructed as the undercutter of a short hair cutter unit. In an alternative embodiment, the cutter element is constructed as the undercutter of a long hair cutter unit.
Further advantageous arrangements relating to the design of coupling elements and the detent mechanism detachably holding the removable frame on the housing part will become apparent from the following description.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings.